Written Statements

Monday 13th January 2025 Written Statements

Monday 13 January 2025

Live Events Ticketing: Resale and Pricing Practices

Monday 13th January 2025 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Justin Madders)]

The UK has a world-leading music and live events sector, which plays an important role in our national life and supports economic growth across the country. However, the Government are concerned that tickets for many live events have become inaccessible to fans due to highly inflated ticket prices on the resale market. In addition, new practices within the live events sector, such as dynamic pricing, are presenting challenges for fans when buying tickets, particularly around transparency.

We want to put fans first, ensure that they are treated fairly and, in so doing, support an economically successful live events sector.

To support these objectives, the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have published a consultation on the resale of live events tickets and a call for evidence on pricing practices in the live events sector, which are available on www.gov.uk.

Consultation on the resale of live events tickets

The Government recognise that a well-functioning ticket resale market can play an important role: helping to redistribute tickets between genuine fans; and allowing those who cannot attend an event to give an opportunity to others to get a ticket, while recouping some or all of their costs. However, it appears that professional ticket touts are systematically buying up tickets on the primary market and then reselling them to fans at often hugely inflated prices, with none of the profits going back to the performer, venue or the live events sector more generally. To address these issues, the Government are seeking views on a range of possible options, including:

Limits on ticket resale, such as via a price cap, making it illegal for tickets to be resold at more than a certain percentage above the original price, and fixed limits on the number of tickets that a seller can resell;

Increasing the accountability of secondary ticketing platforms by placing a duty on them to ensure that information provided by sellers is accurate;

Supporting the enforcement of existing consumer protection laws by updating provisions in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to make enforcement more efficient and effective, including a licensing regime focused on resale platforms; and

Encouraging industry-led actions to improve the transparency and accessibility of ticket sales, for example by phasing ticket distribution.

Call for evidence on pricing practices in the live events sector

The live events sector has adopted new approaches to selling tickets, including pricing strategies using new technologies. These practices are changing both how the system works and the experiences of fans when they purchase tickets. It is important that fans are treated fairly and openly with timely, transparent and accurate information being presented ahead of sales, particularly when demand is high.

The call for evidence is seeking views to determine if there is a case for future intervention, specifically examining:

How the ticketing market works in the UK, when and how tickets are sold using dynamic pricing, and other technologies used to sell tickets;

If and how consumers have been impaired by a lack of transparency, for example the transparency and timeliness of information provided to inform purchasing decisions, and the extent of hidden fees, tiered pricing or pressure selling; and

Whether the current legal framework provides sufficient protection, including whether gaps exist or if there is potential for new harms arising from emerging trends.

Next steps

The consultation and call for evidence will be open for 12 weeks. We encourage all interested stakeholders, including fans, ticketing platforms and the wider live events sector, to respond.

I am placing a copy of the consultation and the call for evidence in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS359]

UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue: 2025

Monday 13th January 2025 Written Statements

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rachel Reeves)]

I visited China 10-13 January to deliver the 2025 UK-China economic and financial dialogue.

Growing the economy is the No.1 mission of this Government. But that growth must be secure and resilient, built on the stable foundations that we have prioritised as we deliver on our Plan for Change and embark on a decade of national renewal.

National security and growth are not opposed. They are mutually reinforcing. We must and will continue to engage with international partners on trade and investment to grow our economy, while ensuring that our security and values are not compromised.

This means finding the right way to build a stable and balanced relationship with China. One that recognises the importance of co-operation in addressing the global issues we face, competing where our interests differ, and challenging robustly where we must.

It is for this reason that I visited Beijing and Shanghai for an economic and financial dialogue with China. I was accompanied by the Governor of the Bank of England, the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, and representatives from Britain’s financial services firms. This dialogue unlocked market access for UK exporters in financial services and agri-products, providing greater certainty for business and an expected boost to the UK economy of £600 million over five years.

However, this is not a return to the “golden era” of UK-China relations. Throughout the visit, I was clear that while we must co-operate on areas of mutual interest, we will also confidently express our economic and trade concerns to the Chinese, including on market access and wider market distorting practices. A key outcome of this dialogue is that we have secured China’s commitment to improve existing channels so that we can openly discuss sensitive issues and the ways in which they impact our economy. Our engagement also advanced wider UK interests. I raised a range of UK concerns in meetings with Chinese Government counterparts, including Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, developments in constraints on rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, and human rights. Our approach ensures we can confidently challenge China on areas where we disagree and uphold the UK’s national security—the first duty of our Government.

This visit builds a platform for a long-term relationship with China that works squarely in our national interest, ensuring our economy has the broad base and resilient foundations for the growth that makes working people in every corner of Britain better off.

[HCWS361]

Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant Relocation

Monday 13th January 2025 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Steve Reed)]

This Government have committed to rebuilding Britain, delivering 1.5 million new homes, along with the critical infrastructure that underpins economic growth. As set out in the “Plan for Change”, we will deliver housing in the right places, supporting our towns and cities to grow, and providing the homes that people want, near to businesses and employment opportunities. This Government are therefore committed to growth and have promised to take tough decisions to get Britain building.

One of our first actions was therefore to revise the national planning policy framework, which was formalised on 12 December 2024. This marks the next step in radically reforming the planning system to meet the needs of the country and made major changes to the rules around the green belt. It is therefore right that the application is now properly analysed, with consideration given to the Government’s updated policies.

This statement confirms that it is necessary to extend the deadline for the Secretary of State’s decision on the application by Anglian Water, under the Planning Act 2008, for the Cambridge waste water treatment plant relocation project development consent order (DCO).

Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of State must make his decision within three months of receipt of the examining authority’s report, unless the power under section 107(3) is exercised to extend the deadline and a ministerial statement is made to Parliament announcing the new deadline.

The DCO application for the Cambridge waste water treatment plant relocation project was received by the Planning Inspectorate under the previous Government’s planning system.

The deadline for this decision is therefore to be further extended to 14 April 2025, to enable the application to be analysed in the light of this key policy update.

The decision to set the new deadline for this application is without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent.

[HCWS362]

Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan

Monday 13th January 2025 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Peter Kyle)]

In July, I commissioned Matt Clifford CBE, tech entrepreneur and chair of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency, to develop an AI opportunities action plan. Today, that plan, and the Government’s response to it, have been published.

This Government promised to deliver change and improve lives in every part of the country; to grow a faster, fairer economy with good jobs that put more money in working people’s pockets; and to rebuild our crumbling public services and provide our citizens with the world-class healthcare and education they deserve.

That clear sense of purpose has fundamentally shaped our approach to AI. This is no longer a technology that belongs in a distant future—the AI revolution is already happening, and it will define the decade to come. We must decide whether we sit back and wait for this technology to shape our lives or get ahead and ensure that British people are the first to benefit.

This Government are hugely optimistic about AI’s potential to change our country for the better and deliver a decade of national renewal. AI is at the heart of our plan for change. From building an NHS fit for the future and making Britain a clean energy superpower, to taking back our streets and bringing down the barriers to opportunity for all, none of our national missions are possible without embracing the power of technology. Most importantly, an AI-powered economy will improve living standards for working people across the country.

We have led the world on AI safety. Now, we have a responsibility to capitalise on our unique position to provide global leadership in seizing the opportunities of AI. The AI opportunities action plan proposes 50 recommendations reflecting the scale and pace required to strengthen the foundations of the UK’s AI ecosystem, deliver real change for citizens through using AI in the public and private sectors, and securing our future by ensuring the UK is a first mover on AI.

In our response, we set out how we intend to shape the application of AI within a modern social market economy, based on the principles of shared economic prosperity, improved public services and increased personal opportunities. To deliver the plan’s recommendations, we are taking decisive action to deliver enduring change:

Creating AI growth zones, areas with enhanced access to power and streamlined planning approvals, to establish new public-private partnerships and accelerate the development of AI infrastructure on UK soil.

Expanding our sovereign AI compute capacity by at least 20 times by 2030, ensuring that the UK can keep pace as our compute needs grow.

Creating a new AI Energy Council, bringing together industry leaders from the energy and AI sectors, co-chaired by me and the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The Energy Council will provide expert insight on the energy needs of AI, alongside opportunities to accelerate investment in the develop of renewable and innovative energy solutions to meet those needs.

Launching a new dedicated team with a mandate to strengthen the UK’s sovereign AI capabilities by supporting our national champions at the frontier of AI. Operating with the agility of the vaccines task force, the team will partner with AI companies and use every tool at Government’s disposal to ensure they have access to the compute, data and talent they need to succeed.

The action plan shows us that we have a narrow window to secure our stake in the future of AI, and deliver a better future for British people. We must take decisive action before it is too late. Today, we have set out our plan to secure our global leadership in the AI revolution and fulfil our fundamental promise to the British people. This is a top priority for the Prime Minister. Working right across Government, we will use AI to grow our economy, rebuild our broken public services and improve living standards for working people. Together, we will ensure that British citizens are the first to benefit from the extraordinary opportunities this technology can offer.

[HCWS360]